In immigration, New Mexico policies lead way

The New Mexican
Posted: Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 5/14/10

New Mexicans have become accustomed to unflattering national publicity on occasion, but recent controversies in Arizona over immigration and ethnicity have placed the Land of Enchantment in a more favorable light.

Earlier this week, The New York Times outlined some differences between the neighboring states. From resolutions in the New Mexico House recognizing economic contributions by illegal immigrants to New Mexico's policy of issuing driver's licenses to all residents, regardless of status, the two neighboring states couldn't be less alike.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — himself the child of a Mexican mother and an American father — sees the debate over immigration this way. He has supported tough border initiatives, including stationing troops to maintain border security. But he also sees the benefits of biculturalism and hopes that Arizona's nativism doesn't spread. It might be too late for that hope to be realized.

Right now, a majority of Americans are supporting Arizona's anti-illegal immigration push — with NBC finding that some two-thirds of Americans support the new law, although among Latinos that figure is only 27 percent. These are early days, though, and we haven't watched the nationally televised spectacle of citizens — not immigrants, legal or otherwise — being arrested because of their brown skin.

The rancor next door is unpleasant and frankly un-American, with the latest insult the signing of a law going after ethnic studies classes in public schools. Targeting classes that "advocate ethnic solidarity" or "promote resentment of a race or class of people," the law is seen as a slap at the Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies Department.

It's another unpleasant reminder that the angry people intent on "taking back America" — somewhat of an irony in the Southwest that was settled before the United States was founded — don't recognize the strength in the multicultural United States we have become.

New Mexico, on the other hand, has valued diversity and differences for centuries. It's our model, rather than the ugliness in Arizona, that should guide the nation.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinio ... y-14--2010